


And At Last I See The Lights

by FayeHunter



Series: Tangled Muke AU [4]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Luke is Rapunzel, M/M, Michael is Flynn, Tangled AU, This is a self indulgent tangled dabble that is solely based on the lantern scene at the end, liberties were taken
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:54:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25023496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FayeHunter/pseuds/FayeHunter
Summary: Luke's had one dream for his entire life. Michael finally helps it come true.It's a Tangled AU, based on the lantern scene
Relationships: Michael Clifford/Luke Hemmings
Series: Tangled Muke AU [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1876993
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	And At Last I See The Lights

**Author's Note:**

  * For [expectopatronuz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/expectopatronuz/gifts).



> Me getting into 5sos: I really like Lashton and Malum  
> Me anytime [Maggie](https://calumsclifford.tumblr.com/) asks for Mashton or Muke: I would do anything for you 
> 
> Once again, this is for Maggie. She mentioned that she say Muke as Rapunzel and Flynn and that she would love a Tangled AU based on the lantern scene. I didn't want to write Stardust because I hit a wall, so I wrote it for her.

Luke’s been holding Michael’s hand since they walked into the kingdom. Michael supposes it makes up for the fact that he was forced to spend the last part of the journey with Maximus glaring at him and Petunia, perched on Luke’s shoulder, sending him her own disgruntled look. Michael never knew that horses and lizards were capable of expressing human emotion, but here he is, with two animals shooting daggers at him the whole way. Michael’s not even sure what he did, other than existing and maybe stealing a crown (okay so Michael knows what he did).

Michael’s trying to not to focus on where Luke’s fingers are laced with his. His hands are soft and warm, like the rest of him. Luke’s wearing one of Michael’s rings, after he pouted and batted his eyes at Michael for it. Even the metal is warm across Michael’s hand. Luke insists that it’s magic that makes his hair glow, but Michael thinks that it’s just who Luke is, sunshine and warmth coming from within. Luke’s been swinging their arms back and forth gently, smiling softly, dimple indented on his cheek. Michael can’t seem to pull his eyes away from Luke, whose smile gets bigger the closer they get to the kingdom.

Luke is utterly oblivious to his traveling companions. Even since the top of the castle came into view, he’s been tugging Michael along urgently, speeding up his pace as if he’s worried the kingdom will vanish if he doesn’t move fast enough. Although, he has spent the last 20 years locked in a tower in the middle of nowhere. As he’s been telling Michael since the moment they met, getting to see the lanterns has been his dream since he was a child.

“Michael come on,” Luke whines, tugging at Michael’s hand and pulling him across the bridge. Michael catches his foot on Luke’s hair and stumbles forward, trying to regain his balance in time with his dignity intact. Luke barely notices, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he pulls Michael into the town square, coming to a stop and tilting his head back to look up and around at the banners and decorations set up for the lost prince’s birthday celebration.

“Well Luke, is it everything you ever dreamed of?” Michael turns to look at Luke, whose face is filled with awe and wonder as he turns around in a circle to take it all in.

“Oh Michael. This is. So much better than anything I could have pictured,” Luke’s voice is barely above a whisper, filled with disbelief and wonderment, eyes wet and shining. He turns to Michael and pulls the man into a tight hug. “This is the best present ever.”  
Michael returns the hug, wrapping his arms around Luke and holding onto him tight. Wrapped up in Luke’s arms, face pressed into soft blonde curls, Michael’s heart aches. He can’t imagine what this must be like for Luke to go through so much in the last few days, for his whole life, and he’s still so optimistic and _happy_.

Michael pulls back to look at Luke, to say something to him that will encompass everything Michael is feeling, when he catches the flinch of pain on Luke’s face. Michael frowns, opening his mouth to ask Luke what’s wrong, when Luke’s hand flies to his head and he whimpers. They both look down and Michael realizes that due to the long nature of Luke’s hair, everyone is stepping on it and tugging it.

“Here, let me,” Michael fumbles, making a grab at Luke’s hair and trying to help him gather it up. They look at each other helplessly once they’ve gathered all the hair, yards and yards of it bundled up and tangled in their arms.  
“How are we supposed to do anything now?” Luke cries, eyes wet with tears for an entirely other reason. “We can’t go anywhere or look at anything or light the lanterns if I have to hold my hair the whole time!”  
Michael looks around desperately, hoping to find a solution, even if it’s something as simple as a basket so that Luke’s birthday isn’t ruined. He catches sight of a small group of girls by the fountain, brushing and braiding each other’s hair. He wriggles a hand free from Luke’s hair, grabbing onto the other boy’s hand, and tugging him towards the girls. “Come on, I have an idea.”

\----

“Michael can’t you walk any faster!” Luke whines, pulling Michael towards the boats for the lantern release. Michael probably could walk faster, but he feels stuck, catch off guard by the way Luke looks in the setting sun. The braid the little girls crafted earlier is still firmly in place and the flowers Luke’s acquired and stuck into it are bright against the blonde. Luke’s practically glowing like this and Michael’s been caught off guard, feeling like he missed a step along the way. 

Michael doesn’t have time to analyze this feeling, Luke finding a boat and turning to look at Michael expectantly. There’s a beat where Luke and Petunia look at Michael and Michael looks at them, each waiting for the other to make a move before Michael realizes that Luke’s never been on a boat before. He doesn’t know what to do. Michael’s heart is filled with fondness and he steps down gently into the boat, turning to Luke and holding his arms out.

“Come on, I’ll help you,” Michael offers motioning to Luke to come closer. “I promise I won’t let anything bad happen.”  
Luke takes a caution step closer and once he’s in range, Michael grabs onto his waist and lifts him up, swinging him around. Luke shrieks, grabbing on tightly to Michael’s arms, until Michael sets him down gently on both feet. Michael looks up slightly at Luke and is struck by how close their noses are, how blue Luke’s eyes are. Michael’s breath catches and he still feels like he’s missing something, like there’s a step he’s missed along the way.

The moment passes and Luke releases his hold on Michael, looking away and cautiously sitting down on the boat’s front bench. Michael unties the rope and takes a seat behind Luke, picking up the paddle and rowing them away from the dock.

“Where are we going Michael?”  
“Well, it’s your birthday and you wanted to see the lanterns. Figured I’d give you the best seat in the house.” Michael ceases rowing, letting the boat come to a stop in the middle of the lake, the perfect place for the light show that’s about to start.

Luke falls silent, looking up at the darkening sky in wonder. Petunia pops out of Luke’s hair, gazing up at the sky with him. Michael’s heart aches for this boy. They’ve been through so much over the last few days and Luke’s pushed through everything, determined and resilient each time, optimism never faltering. He knows their adventure, their pact, was only supposed to last until Michael brought Luke here to the lanterns but Michael can’t find the words to tell Luke he doesn’t want this to end. Michael’s not ready to have to walk Luke back to his tower and say goodbye to him. He’s only shown Luke a tiny fraction of what the world has to offer and he knows there’s so much out there for Luke. Luke wasn’t meant to be locked away from everyone, trapped in his lofty prison, forced to gaze out on the world below in longing. Michael feels like taking Luke back will be betraying this soft, sweet boy, who’s never looked at Michael with anything other than trust and affection, even when they were fighting bitterly the first few days. Michael wants to give Luke one last present, wants to steal Luke away from his tower, from his mother, and show him the world, take him on adventure after adventure until they're old and gray and there’s nothing left to explore. Wants to promise Luke that he’ll protect him from whatever waits out in the world for them, that he’ll be Luke's protector, his home, his family in the way Luke’s mentioned never having. At the same time, Michael knows Luke is too wonderful, too amazing for Michael to keep. Even if Michael could steal him away, Luke’s talented, beautiful, artistic and free. Eventually Luke will outgrow Michael and leave him for bigger, better things and it would be cruel of Michael to force him to stay, trapped again. 

Michael’s so caught up in his own thoughts, heart stuck in his throat and eyes wet, that he almost misses the sad sigh Luke lets out. He glances at the boy, sees Luke dip a hand into the water below and swirl it around. He looks small and sad, like the Luke that tied Michael to a chair demanding to know who Michael was and if he was going to hurt him. It breaks Michael’s heart to see the sweet, confident boy he’s gotten to know vanish.

“Lukey what’s wrong?”  
“I’m terrified,” Luke whispers.  
“Why?”  
“I’ve been looking out a window for 20 years, dreaming about what it might feel like when those lights rise in the sky,” Luke looks up to the sky and Michael studies his profile in the moonlight. Sharp upturned nose, strong jawline, pink lips, framed by soft blonde curls falling around his face and pink flowers tucked into the folds of his hair. Blue eyes shining in the moonlight. Michael tries to memorize this moment, catalogue it away for when there’s nothing left of Luke except this one perfect memory of this one perfect night. “Michael, what if it’s not everything that I dreamed it would be?”

“It will be,” Michael whispers back, reaching out and taking Luke’s hand. Luke looks back at him and Michael’s struck by the intensity of emotion in his eyes.  
“And what if it is? What do I do then? Until a few days ago, I’d never left that tower and now I’m here. I did the one thing I always dreamed of. Where do I go now?”  
“That’s the good part I guess Sunshine,” Michael reaches up to brush a stray curl behind Luke’s ear. He hears Luke’s breath catch when Michael’s fingertips graze his earlobe. “You get to go find a new dream.”

They sit in silence, gazing at each other, Michael’s fingers caught in Luke’s hair. It’s comfortable and peaceful. Luke opens his mouth, but is distracted by the first lantern floating up into the sky and whips his head around to stare intently at it. More lanterns follow it into the sky. Luke scrambles to the front of the boat, gripping onto the wood tightly as he stares up at the night sky, candlelight lighting up the night sky and basking him in their glow.

There’s a few beats where Luke gazes at the sky with awe before he whips around to look at Michael, face full of despair. “Michael! I don’t have a lantern!”

“Don’t worry Sunshine,” Michael chuckles, pulling two lanterns from where he'd hidden them under the seat when Luke was getting his hair braided, lighting them, and holding one out of Luke. “You didn’t think I’d forget the most important part of your present.” 

Luke makes his way back to the bench. Lowering himself down gently and reaching out to take the lantern. He pauses and then turns around, grabbing Michael’s satchel from under the bench and holding it out to Michael. “I have something for you too. I should have given it to you before, but I was scared. But I’m not scared anymore Michael. You helped me realize that and I want you to have it.”  
Michael realizes that Luke’s holding the crown out to him. The crown that Luke’s been holding on to for the entirety of their trip, as blackmail to keep Michael helping him. Michael’s not sure when his helping Luke stopped being about the crown, when it stopped being the most important part of this adventure, but Michael can’t find it in him to take the satchel from Luke. He shakes his head, holding the lantern out to Luke. “You keep it. Think of it as a...souvenir of your birthday adventure.”

Luke smiles softly, dropping the satchel, and taking the lantern from Michael’s waiting hands. He looks expectantly at Michael, until Michael lets his go and Luke follows suit. Luke watches in awe as the lanterns float up to join the rest of them. He grabs Michael’s hand, pointing excitedly at a lantern floating towards them. Luke lets his hand brush it, pushing it up towards the sky, smiling softly. 

Michael finds his eyes drawn to Luke, who’s leaning over the edge of the boat, illuminated in candlelight. His hair practically glows in the warm light, eyes and face lit up with a smile. Michael’s heart aches suddenly from the want that fills it. Luke looks like the sun, bright and shining, glowing from within. Michael knows about the magical whatever that Luke’s hair has with the glowing, but in this moment, Michael thinks that the glowing is just Luke. Luke is bright and shining from within and Michael is hit with this overwhelming feeling of. _Love_.

“Luke,” Michael whispers, tugging on Luke’s hand until Luke turns his face towards Michael. His eyes are sparkling and there’s another curl falling into his eyes. Michael, at a loss for what to say, gently brushes the curl from Luke’s face and tucks it behind his ear. There’s a beat where Michael gazes into Luke’s eyes before he tugs Luke’s face forward with both hands and kisses him. Luke makes a noise of surprise before melting softly into the kiss.

Luke’s lips are warm and soft. Michael can feel Luke smiling against his lips. He feels warm, basking here in Luke’s sunshine, pulling back from Luke to catch his breath, cradling Luke’s face in his palms.

Luke’s quiet for a moment, eyes closed and lips parted as he catches his breath. Luke giggles and leans forward, burying his face into Michael’s neck. He glances up at Michael through his lashes, smiling softly.  
“Hey Mikey.”  
“Yeah Sunshine?”  
“I think I found my new dream.”

Michael grins, feigning ignorance at Luke’s statement. “Oh really? What could that be?”  
Luke huffs, smacking Michael in the chest. “Michael!”  
“Okay okay Princess jeez. Yes, Luke I want to explore the world with you too. God, you make me do all the hard work in this relationship.” Michael rolls his eyes, but he pulls Luke in close to his chest in a hug.  
Luke snuggles in close to Michael, letting his eyes fall shut and smiling softly. “Good because otherwise I’d have to send Petunia and Maximus after you.”  
A laugh startles it’s way out of Michael and he leans down, kissing the top of Luke’s head. In this moment, with the lanterns lighting up the sky and Luke basking in the warm glow, Michael decides that maybe he has a new dream too.

**Author's Note:**

> Just know that even though it's not there, Michael and Luke do defeat Mother Gothel, reunite Luke with his parents, and go on an adventure around the world.  
> Even though they're not there, Ashton and Calum are the guards sent to get the crown back and later go with Michael and Luke. Yes they're dating too. 
> 
> Come find me on [tumblr!](https://pixiegrl.tumblr.com/) Talk to me about fairytales or Stardust


End file.
